364 MILESTONES TO ARMAGEDDON [1908-1914
The Austro-Hungarian Empire, as we have seen, was a
mosaic of ill-assorted and unfriendly races, held together by
nothing save the Hapsburg dynasty. The two ruling races—
the slack, easy-going Austrians and the keener, more energetic
Hungarians—had subject peoples who yearned for union with
the main body of their own folk outside the Empire. The
South Slavs of Croatia, Slavonia and Bosnia looked longingly
to the Kingdom of Serbia, the Rumanians of Transylvania to
the Kingdom of Rumania, the Italians of Dalmatia and the
Trentino to the Kingdom of Italy; while the Poles of Galicia
hoped for a revival of their ancient independence in con-
junction with their compatriots under the yoke of Russia and
Prussia. Thus the Imperial Government was always on the
defensive against hostile forces within and without, and the
result was a regime of police-infested tyranny, less brutal than
that of Russia, but petty, corrupt and irritating. All adminis-
trative posts were held by Austrians or Hungarians, and every
effort was made to crush out local institutions and languages.
By far the most powerful of these disruptive forces was the
Serbian; and there were some among the ruling classes who
believed that the best way to deal with it would be to give the
South Slav subjects of the Empire a separate constitution, such
as the Hungarians had received at the Ausgleich (§141). But
this " Trialist " project was bitterly opposed by the party most
influential in Court and Government; and these people
dreaded the accession of the heir-apparent, the Archduke
Francis Ferdinand, who was known to be in sympathy with it.
In 1908 occurred a revolution in the Ottoman Empire which
was destined to have profound effects on the situation. For
some years intelligent Turks of the younger generation had
been growing discontented with the corrupt and inefficient rule
of Abdul Hamid; and these " YOUNG TURKS " now suddenly
raised the standard of revolt with demands for drastic reforms—
constitutional government, religious and intellectual liberty,
and Western ideas generally. Abdul repeated the tactics of his
predecessor in 1878 (§ 159) : he gave way without a struggle.